Jewish extremist attacks Israeli activist with knife

A video posted to social media shows a knife-wielding and balaclava-clad settler apparently trying on multiple occasions to stab Rabbi Arik Asherman, who was accompanying a group of Palestinian farmers to harvest olives in the West Bank.

Rabbi Arik Asherman, who heads the Rabbis for Human Rights organisation, was part of a group of Israeli and global activists attending an olive harvest at a Palestinian farm on Friday when he was attacked.

The incident can be seen in the video below, with Ascherman in the blue shirt.

Ascherman defended himself and then confronted another settler.

In the past, similar attacks on Palestinian olive groves and Palestinian farmers have largely gone unpunished, as have settler attacks on human rights activists.

This morning Israeli security forces were on site while Palestinians gathered their crops, keeping a group of settlers at bay.

Ascherman, who is known to Jewish settlers and who was wearing a kippah (Jewish skullcap) said as he approached the fire the masked settler beat him and hit him with a rock.

“We are still in shock”.

The Israeli news outlet ‘+972 Magazine’ reported that Asherman and other activists noticed Israeli settlers stealing olives and setting fire to plants on the hillside. “We need to take time to think and reflect on it”, Rabbis for Human Rights spokesperson Yariv Mohar said to Mondoweiss.

They also claimed to view incidents like this with the utmost severity and said they would have “zero tolerance” for those committing these crimes. “These people are hurting the image of Israel”.

The Palestinian government catalogued previous year more than 1,000 incidents of settler attacks against Palestinians, a majority taking place in villages in close proximately to Israeli settlements and outposts.